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A/C (New York City Subway services) - RollOverTheFloor
The A Eighth Avenue Express and C Eighth Avenue Local are a pair of rapid transit services in the New York City Subway's B Division. Their route emblems, or "bullets", are colored blue since they use the IND Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan. They also use the IND Fulton Street Line in Brooklyn, and the A''' uses the IND Liberty Avenue Line and IND Rockaway Line in Queens. The '''A operates at all times while the C''' only operates during day and evening hours and both services combined have a daily ridership of 800,000. The entire '''A route stretches between 207th Street in Inwood, Manhattan and Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway, Queens, which is the longest one-seat ride in the entire subway system at over 32 miles (51 km). During day and evening hours, the A''' runs express except Queens, where it serves all stops, and alternate trains on the route originate & terminate at Lefferts Boulevard in Richmond Hill, Queens, whilst five rush hour trips run to/from Beach 116th Street in Rockaway Park, Queens in the peak direction; at all times, a shuttle train ('''S – Rockaway Park Shuttle) operates between Broad Channel, where it connects with the A''', and Rockaway Park. The '''C is basically a short turning part-time A''', operating local between 168th Street in Washington Heights, Manhattan and Euclid Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn. During nights, the '''A serves all stops along its entire route and a shuttle train (Lefferts Boulevard Shuttle) operates between Euclid Avenue and Lefferts Boulevard. History The A''' and '''C were the first services on the IND Eighth Avenue Line when it opened on September 10, 1932. The A''' ran express between 207th Street and Chambers Street, adjacent to the Hudson Terminal (today's World Trade Center station), and the '''C was a local between 168th Street and Hudson Terminal. During nights, the C''' did not run and the '''A made all stops along the line. The A''' was extended to Jay Street – Borough Hall on February 1, 1933, when the Cranberry Street Tunnel to Brooklyn opened. On April 9, 1936, the IND Fulton Street Line was opened to Rockaway Avenue. The 1936 completion played an integral part in the establishment of Bedford-Stuyvesant as Brooklyn's central African American community. The '''A train connected Harlem, Manhattan's central African American community to areas of Bedford-Stuyvesant that provided residential opportunities for African Americans not found throughout the rest of New York City. On December 30, 1946, the line was extended to Broadway – East New York (now Broadway Junction). On November 28, 1948, the line, along with the C''', was extended to Euclid Avenue. Express service in Brooklyn began on the '''A during daytime hours, while the daytime-only C''' provided local service. At night, the '''A made all stops along the Fulton Street Line like on the Eighth Avenue Line. On April 29, 1956, Grant Avenue was opened, and the line was extended over the IND Liberty Avenue Line to Lefferts Boulevard. Two months later, on June 28, 1956, the former Long Island Rail Road Rockaway Line was rebuilt to subway specifications, and service began to Rockaway Park and Wavecrest (Beach 25th Street). Alternating trains began terminating at Lefferts Boulevard and Rockaway Park, with rush hour-peak direction only service to Wavecrest. A shuttle train operated at all times between Wavecrest and Broad Channel, where it connected with the A'''. At night, a shuttle train also operated between Euclid Avenue and Lefferts Boulevard, allowing all '''A trains to go to Rockaway Park during that timeframe. On January 16, 1958, a new terminal was created at Far Rockaway – Mott Avenue, and the through connection to the Long Island Rail Road's Far Rockaway station was severed. Alternating trains began terminating at Far Rockaway, with rush hour-peak direction only service to Rockaway Park. The shuttle began operating between Rockaway Park and Broad Channel from then on. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, C''' service was suspended until September 24, 2001. Local service along Central Park West was replaced by the '''A and D''', and the '''E was extended from Canal Street to Euclid Avenue during daytime hours, replacing C''' service in Brooklyn. On January 23, 2005, a fire at the Chambers Street signal room crippled '''A and C''' service. Initial assessments suggested that it would take several years to restore normal service, but the damaged equipment was replaced with available spare parts, and normal service resumed on April 21. '''A service was affected by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 due to extreme damage to the IND Rockaway Line. Trains that normally traveled to the Rockaways terminated at Howard Beach – JFK Airport. Service to the Rockaways resumed on May 30, 2013. The Far Rockaway part of the route was served by the temporary free H''' shuttle that ran between Far Rockaway and Beach 90th Street via the connecting track at Hammels Wye. In popular culture Take the A Train is a jazz standard by Billy Strayhorn, referring to the '''A train, going at that time from eastern Brooklyn up into Harlem and northern Manhattan, using the express tracks in Manhattan. It became the signature tune of Duke Ellington and often opened the shows of Ella Fitzgerald. Part of the significance of this is sociological; it connected Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant, the two largest black neighborhoods in New York City. Maintenance and rider issues In August 2012, the Straphangers Campaign rated the A''' train the worst of the city's subway services for the fourth straight year. No other service has ranked worst for more than three years. The group found that the '''A performed worst in three of the six categories in its annual State of the Subways Report Card: breakdowns, interior cleanliness and in-car announcement quality. It also tied for worst in crowding, with the 4, but performed above average in regularity and average in amount of scheduled service. The New York Times called the A''' the "least loved of New York City subway lines", citing half of its fleet - R32s, the oldest cars in the system at 52 years old. In late December 2016, the MTA released a full-line review for the '''A and C''' services at the request of the Riders Alliance and the Straphangers Campaign. The report confirms that the MTA will address and monitor the following issues on both routes: *Replace the aging R32 and R46 car fleets with new R179 and R211 equipment by the early 2020s *Add more '''A trains during middays and evenings, and more C''' trains during rush hours and middays once the entire R179 order is finished *Reconfigure, renovate, and reopen exits that are currently closed at some stations *Create a new service route (as part of the expansion order included in the R211 car fleet) that would run only during days and evenings between Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets and Euclid Avenue as a local, therefore, allowing the '''C to run express in Brooklyn and extend to Lefferts Boulevard, which in turn, would allow all A''' trains to go to Far Rockaway full-time, decreasing wait times at the growing Aqueduct, North Conduit Avenue, Howard Beach, and Far Rockaway stations, including Broad Channel, where the number of people transferring between the '''A and the Rockaway Park Shuttle is higher than the number of people entering/exiting the station itself. Route Service pattern Stations